An old Jewish folktale bears witness to the importance of sharing in the tradition.

There were once two brothers who farmed together. They shared equally in all of the work and split the profits exactly. Each had his own storehouse. One of the brothers was married and had a large family. The other was single.

One day the single brother thought to himself: “It is not fair that we divide the grain so evenly. My brother has many mouths to feed, while I have but one. I know what I’ll do! I will take a sack of grain from my storehouse each evening and put it in my brother’s storehouse.” So each night when it was dark, he carefully carried a sack of grain and put it in his brother’s storehouse.

Now the married brother also thought to himself: “It is not fair that we divide the grain so evenly. I have many children to care for me in my old age, and my brother has none. I know what I’ll do! I will take a sack of grain from my storehouse each evening and put it in my brother’s storehouse.” So each night when it was dark, he too carefully carried a sack of grain and put it in his brother’s storehouse.

This went on for weeks, and since neither brother knew what the other was doing, each morning they were amazed to discover that though they had removed a sack of grain the night before, they had just as many.

But one night they met each other halfway between their storehouses, each carrying a sack of
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